Panamian-born right-hander Daniel Espino, who now lives in Statesboro, Georgia, is the most famous name in the high school pitching crop for 2019, having hit 99 mph earlier this summer at the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Petco in a one-inning stint. He dialed it all the way back to 92-97 for a longer outing in Glendale, but what was more impressive was that he repeated his delivery and showed he could throw the fastball for strikes and work with it to both sides of the plate. Espino's arm action was a real concern at the start of the summer, but he's cleaned it up, and while it can get long and he needs to avoid coming across his body, he's repeating it enough now to foresee future above-average command. He paired the fastball with a hard curveball at 77-82 that flashed plus. I'd be surprised if he weren't one of the first two or three high school pitchers taken next June.

Glenallen Hill, Jr., was probably the highest-profile position player in the event thanks to his very explosive tools and his name -- his father was a big, physical power hitter, and a man ahead of his time, as he struck out 211 times in 530 PA as a 20-year-old in A-ball in 1985. The younger Hill is smaller but much faster, average out of the box but probably a 70 runner underway, if not faster, and shows excellent bat speed, especially from the left side. His timing at the plate was off at the Future Stars Series, however -- he was late getting his hands started and behind a lot of pitches he should have squared up. He played short and second but given his speed and erratic hands he might profile best in center.

Law mentions Glenallen Hill Jr. in this piece and talks about a few amateur prospects that stood out for him. I don't want to post the whole thing, but it's a good article if you have ESPN insider or ESPN+ or whatever they call it now.

The kid Law mentions at the beginning of the article is really impressive and has a good delivery. Here's video of Espino pitching at Wrigley earlier in the summer:

This is one college player I really like and think he will get taken pretty high in next year's draft. His stats are really good for his first two years in college. The problem is his stats in the Cape Cod League aren't that impressive so I wonder how Cubs' scouts and their scouting department feel about him.

He also might not stick at 3B and his overall speed isn't great. The bat seems pretty special to me though.

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"It was met with, basically, he didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want me to tell him that. I just basically said, 'Well that's why we want an electronic strike zone.'" -- Ben Zobrist

Some excellent size among top college bats this year...Wallner, Toglia, Mendoza, and Rustchman all look to have premium frames. Three of those guys are listed at 6’5”, two are switch hitters, there’s a C with a potentially elite frame, and a potential 3B in Mendoza. Impressive little group, that’s definitely around every year in the college ranks

Huh, I didn't know Carter Stewart is going to Eastern Florida State. I'm assuming this is a junior college so this should allow him to re-enter the draft in 2019. I'm surprised he didn't go to Chipola junior college or some other well-known JC.

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"It was met with, basically, he didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want me to tell him that. I just basically said, 'Well that's why we want an electronic strike zone.'" -- Ben Zobrist

Those are some pretty Cubs friendly early rankings with neither Wallner or Toglia on there. horsefeathers even Stewart as “just” the 6th ranked college prospect...Gotta say I like how 2019’s shaping up all around for the Cubs org (no homer)

Looking at last year's MLB draft slots and pool amounts right now. The Nats picked 27th last year and that draft slot was $2,472,700. Assuming the pool amounts increase a little bit the Cubs total draft pool should be around $5.75 mil.

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"It was met with, basically, he didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want me to tell him that. I just basically said, 'Well that's why we want an electronic strike zone.'" -- Ben Zobrist

Kiley McDaniel: Manoah is a big dude that showed big stuff on the Cape but needs to watch the frame and looks like a reliever. Lodolo is one of a handful of guys that we would move up now, but we’ll wait for a couple fall events to occur to make an update. He threw harder in a scrimmage this week. We had him lower bc he’d been mostly 88-91, touching 92 or 93 just like in HS two years ago and that’s where we’d rank that guy. If he’s consistently 91-94 like he was this week, then he’s in the top 30. Jason Hodges (HS LF, Illinois) is another guy that probably moves up and Michael Harris (HS LHP/RF, Georgia) would move on the list.

12:29 Kiley McDaniel: and for the hoops fans, Jason is the son of Craig Hodges from the MJ Bulls teams

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"It was met with, basically, he didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want me to tell him that. I just basically said, 'Well that's why we want an electronic strike zone.'" -- Ben Zobrist

He was eligible for this year's draft, but sent a letter asking teams not to draft him. I think he could've gone in the late 1st round/early-mid 2nd round area. He'll be eligible for the 2021 draft. I think his fastball was better in HS. That's not great velocity for a SP, but maybe he's just taking it easy and building up arm strength. Should be a high draft pick in a few years.

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"It was met with, basically, he didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want me to tell him that. I just basically said, 'Well that's why we want an electronic strike zone.'" -- Ben Zobrist

Damn, thinking about it Rocker is probably the highest rated HS SP to hit a perrenial CWS contender’s campus in a long, long time. The potential to be a generational talent is there with that kind of pedigree, frame, and stuff. Guy’s got a huge ceiling among huge ceilings but narrow and harrowing path yada yada

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Another college worth noting in this pretty good looking class for college bats is 6’4” OF Kameron Misner out of Mizzou. Missed some time to a foot injury last year but was hitting .360, leading the nation in walks, just a 16% K rate, and a .216 IsoSLG, and 13 SBs. He seems like he might be next year’s Trevor Larnach if he can tap into more HR power. Speed was a part of his game so hopefully that foot injury heals up

Reggie Crawford (2019, Frackville, Pa.) has made some serious noise in the past few months as a physical lefthanded pitching prospect who has reached as high as 94 mph with his fastball at PG events. He got the ball for Blackhawks National on Thursday in their opening game of the WWBA World Championship and didn’t disappoint, shutting out Palm Beach Select over 3 1/3 innings, scattering three hits and a walk while picking up four strikeouts. Crawford has excellent size, looking every bit of his listed 6-foot-4, 206-pounds. There’s a fair amount of looseness to his arm stroke to go along with above average arm speed, and he sat in the 88-91 mph range for the most part with his fastball, creating outstanding angles to the plate from a very extended three-quarters slot. His best pitches of the outing came on fastballs located to his glove side against righthanded hitters, an almost impossible pitch to hit given the angle it comes in at. The breaking ball will need improvement, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned about the UConn coaching staff over the past few years it’s that they have no trouble teaching talented lefthanders how to spin the baseball. -- Brian Sakowski

Rece Hinds is already a top prospect leading up to the 2019 MLB draft. Tremendous power, but he has a good swing as well:

Moving from one of the better hit tools in the class to Rece Hinds (2019, Niceville, Fla.), who has almost inarguably the best power in the prep ranks, as the LSU commit had himself a big afternoon during an opening win for the East Coast Sox. By now Hinds is one of the most well-known prospects for this year’s high school class of draft-eligible prospects, and he’s hard to miss at a super-physical 6-foot-4 and 210-pounds as the No. 7 overall prospect, and the main reason for this is his prodigious power. He has double-plus raw power, and the ball carries like no other to all fields and what he showed during this game wasn’t just his ability to impact the baseball, but the ability to drive the ball with power to the opposite field. After getting down 0-2 early in the count, Hinds fouled off a couple tough pitches until he drove a 90 mph fastball deep to the opposite field and carried out with an exit velocity of 99 mph. The East Coast Sox are a must watch with the amount of talent they have, and Hinds certainly added to that entertainment value with a long home run and a couple of knocks on the day. -- Vinnie Cervino

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"It was met with, basically, he didn't want to talk about that. He didn't want me to tell him that. I just basically said, 'Well that's why we want an electronic strike zone.'" -- Ben Zobrist